Madison News

Anniversary of controversial officer involved shooting in Madison

11/09/2013 UPDATE:

Saturday, November 9th is the year anniversary of the officer involved shooting that sparked much controversy, on Madison's East Side.

And in that year, big changes for Madison's Police Department. The man at the center of the controversy, Stephen Heimsness, who shot and killed 30 year old Paul Heenan, is no longer with the department And neither is Chief Noble Wray.

Interim Chief Randy Gaber says they're working with detectives from around Dane County to create an independant panel to handle officer-involved shootings.

Madison's PD conducted the probe into Heenan's death . Heimsness was cleared of wrongdoing. It's the subject of legislation requiring independant investigations in such matters.

Heenan's family and friends plan to gather at the capitol Saturday to mark the anniversary and call attention to the bill.

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UPDATE: Thursday, October 24, 2013-

The Madison Police officer tied to a fatal shooting incident on the city's east side has officially retired.

Heimsness' retirement also means an excessive use of force complaint against him with the City's Police and Fire Commission will expire.

The executive director for the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, which is representing Heimsness, said Wednesday that Heimsness has been approved for a state disability retirement that he had been seeking due to post-traumatic stress resulting from the shooting.

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UPDATE: Tuesday, July 1, 2013- MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A Madison police officer who shot a musician last fall has agreed to resign from the department.

Chief Noble Wray say the last day for Officer Stephen Heimsness officially will be Nov. 23. But City Attorney Michael May says Heimsness won't return to active duty.

Wray began efforts two weeks ago to fire Heimsness for numerous alleged violations of department policy that happened prior to the Nov. 9 fatal shooting of Paul Heenan.

Heimsness has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. He'll now be on paid sick leave through Nov. 23, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by Heimsness and Wray.

Heimsness was responding to a reported burglary when he shot Heenan. A police investigation cleared him of wrongdoing in that incident.

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UPDATE: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 - Madison Mayor Paul Soglin announcing new training mandates for all city departments at a news conference late Tuesday. Soglin also addressing comments Officer Stephen Heimsness is accused of making via his squad car computer during the weeks preceding his fatal shooting of Paul Heenan last November. The Mayor calls the comments, strewn with obscenities and racist or sexist remarks, "troubling and disturbing"

Soglin also saying he believes the "overwhelming majority" of MPD officers do not participate in this type of commentary, but he wants to ensure it's not part of the police, or any other department's culture

Police Chief Noble Wray has called for Heimsness to be fired. Soglin says his feelings on the issue are "not the legal standard," and describes the situation facing the department as "the most serious in four decades."

WIBA News also learning Heimsness remains on administrative leave, and since February, has been paid more than $40,000.

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Madison Police Chief Noble Wray is trying to fire a police officer for alleged misconduct that happened before he fatally shot a local musician last fall.

Wray alleges the officer violated departmental conduct rules repeatedly in the months before the shooting, including using insulting, defamatory or obscene language in computer messages to other officers, disrespecting his supervisors, and failing to take proper care in handling weapons.

Dan Frei, president of the Madison Professional Police Officers Association, says Heimsness' actions do not constitute grounds for dismissal.

A high-profile investigation earlier cleared Heimsness in the fatal shooting of Paul Heenan during a struggle at a home last November.